【TOP1 Morning】Palladium hits a record high! India's epidemic pressures oil prices

Forex: U.S. dollar is flat

The US dollar was mixed against major currencies on Tuesday, and rose against the yen and commodity currencies as investors waited for the opportunity before the Federal Reserve announced its policy decision on Wednesday.

At the same time, the yen’s trend is difficult. Previously, the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged and predicted that by the beginning of 2023, the inflation rate would not reach its key target of 2%.

Before the Fed ends its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, foreign exchange transactions are basically sluggish, and it is expected that the Fed will not adjust its policy by then.

Or the press conference may show signs of optimism, investors may advance their expectations for reductions and push up U.S. Treasury yields. The awareness of this risk allows traders to continue to invest in U.S. dollars," he added.

The US dollar index was flat at 90.897 and fell to 90.679, the lowest since March 3 overnight.

The dollar rose 0.6% against the yen, another safe-haven currency, to 108.72 yen, continuing its rally from the seven-week low of 107.48 yen hit last Friday.

The euro changed little against the dollar, at $1.2087, not far from the two-month high of $1.2117 hit on Monday.

The Australian dollar, a commodity-related currency that measures risk appetite, fell 0.5% to $0.7765 against the U.S. dollar. It rose sharply overnight and was close to a five-week high.

Stock market: U.S. stocks closed flat

The US stock market S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed nearly flat on Tuesday. The lackluster earnings reports of Tesla and 3M put pressure on the stock market. Investors are paying attention to the performance of Microsoft, Alphabet and a series of other heavyweights.

Tesla fell 4.5% after the company's quarterly results announced on Monday night were lower than some investors expected. Its revenue performance was mainly due to carbon credits and bitcoin sales, rather than car sales.

After the market on Tuesday, Microsoft dropped nearly 4% after its quarterly earnings report, and Google's parent company Alphabet jumped 5% after reporting performance.

Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, which are scheduled to announce earnings later this week, have been mixed for most of the time.

Jack Dollaride, CEO of Longbow Asset Management, said: "Everyone is waiting for large technology companies to release their financial reports after the market today. If the performance is good, I think there will be a lot of positive momentum. If it is disappointing, we may usher in very turbulence. Week."

Gold: Gold prices closed down

Before the Fed's interest rate decision, spot gold prices remained in a narrow range, while palladium prices hit a record high due to continued supply concerns.

Spot gold closed at US$1,776.60 per ounce, down US$4.78 or 0.27%. The highest intraday hit US$1,785.59 per ounce and the lowest US$1,773.52 per ounce.

COMEX June gold futures closed down about 0.1%, at 1,778.80 US dollars per ounce.

The dollar rose slightly, making gold less attractive to holders of other currencies.

At the same time, spot palladium closed at $2,945.02 per ounce, up $18.01 or 0.62%. The highest intraday hit $2,963.64 per ounce and the lowest hit $2,892.05 per ounce.

"The supply and demand deficits in 2021 will expand significantly, reaching the highest level since 2014, and will narrow in 2022, but they will remain at a relatively high level. This should put pressure on limited above-ground stocks and benefit prices," he said. HSBC analysts said.

Crude oil: oil prices rebounded slightly

OPEC+ issued an optimistic forecast on energy demand. The number of new crown vaccines in the world has exceeded 1 billion doses. It is worried that the recent surge in new cases in India, Brazil and Japan may disrupt the recovery of oil demand.

The two major crude oil futures rebounded slightly from the decline. As of press time, US WTI crude oil futures for June closed up 80 cents, or 1.29%, to $62.94 per barrel; Brent's July crude oil futures closed up 31 cents, or 0.47%, to $66.42 per barrel. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said that the prospects of the global economy and the oil industry have shown positive signs, but there are still some factors in the oil market that require continued vigilance.

A strategist at OCBC Bank said: "We believe that the 1% drop in oil distribution last week is a profit retracement, especially the 6% increase in oil distribution in the previous week. The price spread of oil distribution has remained basically stable, as is the price difference between gasoline and diesel."

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